1921 Canadian Penny
The 1921 Canadian Penny is a one-cent coin struck for circulation with 7.6 million made. Value band: face value. Here is how to recognize it, what makes one worth more and what to check on yours.
- Year
- 1921
- Circulation mintage
- 7,601,627
- Value band
- Face value
- Composition
- Bronze (95.5% copper, 3% tin, 1.5% zinc)
Original illustration of the coin's shape and metal. Tap to flip. Not a picture of the actual design.
Face value · Small premium · Collector premium · Significant rarity. We use bands because prices change daily.
What is a 1921 Canadian Penny worth?
With 7.6 million made, the 1921 Canadian Penny is common. A circulated one is worth face value. The cent is still legal tender even though the Mint stopped issuing it in 2013. Only coins with full original red color, a recognized variety or a genuine error interest collectors.
What would make yours worth more:
- Original red color rather than brown
- Sharp detail in the portrait and leaves
- A recognized variety for the date
- Professional grading for a key date
For market prices, look at recent sold results for the same coin in the same condition, not asking prices.
Quick answers
- Is the 1921 Canadian Penny rare?
- No. 7.6 million were made, so circulated examples are worth face value.
- How many 1921 Canadian pennies were made?
- 7,601,627 were struck for circulation.
- What is the 1921 Canadian Penny made of?
- Bronze (95.5% copper, 3% tin, 1.5% zinc). It weighs 3.24 g and measures 19.05 mm.
- Is the 1921 Canadian Penny still legal tender?
- Yes. The Royal Canadian Mint stopped distributing cents in 2013, but they remain legal tender. Cash payments are rounded to the nearest five cents, so most pennies now sit in jars or go to banks.
The 1921 penny in context
The second year of the small cent saw 7,601,627 coins struck, about half the 1920 figure. Together the two years produced more than 23 million small cents and that turned out to be far more than Canada needed in the early 1920s. The country was going through a sharp postwar slowdown, demand for small change fell away and the banks found themselves sitting on more cents than they could pass out.
The 1921 is the last high mintage small cent before a five year slump in production. That gives it a useful place in the series, since it marks the turning point between plenty and scarcity. People sometimes get excited by any 1921 Canadian coin because the 1921 fifty cent piece is one of the great Canadian rarities, but the cent has nothing in common with it apart from the date. A 1921 cent is a common coin. Even so, a sharp one with original color is a nice piece to own and those turn up far less often than the mintage figure might lead you to expect.
How to recognize it
George V's crowned bust by Bertram Mackennal is on the obverse with GEORGIVS V DEI GRA: REX ET IND: IMP:. The reverse shows two maple leaves on a stem with ONE CENT between them, CANADA above and 1921 below. The coin is 19.05 mm across and weighs 3.24 g. The final 1 is a plain stroke, so on a worn coin make sure it is not the remains of a damaged 4 or 7. Clear coins leave no doubt, but on smooth ones it helps to compare the shape and spacing of the whole date with a known example before you decide.
1921 Canadian Penny by the numbers
By the numbers, the 1921 Canadian Penny ranks 48th lowest of 151 Canadian cent dates and varieties from 1858 to 2012. The next scarcer is the 1935 Canadian Penny (7.53 million); the next more common is the 1936 Canadian Penny (8.77 million).
For scale, the most common is the 1981 Round Canadian Penny with 1.21 billion, about 159 times as many. The scarcest is the 1858 Canadian Penny with 421,000, 18 times fewer than this one.
Compared with the dates around it, the 1921 output was 2 times fewer than 1920 and 6.1 times the 1922 figure.
Over the 1920s the Mint produced 61.7 million cents across 11 dates and varieties; the 1921 Canadian Penny accounts for 12% of that.
What to check on your 1921 Canadian Penny
- Check the color. Collectors describe copper cents as red, red-brown or brown; original red color is worth far more than toned or dull surfaces.
- Never clean it. Rubbing, polishing or dipping leaves fine scratches and an unnatural color that collectors spot at once.
- Look at the high points of the portrait and the lettering. Wear there sets the grade. The grade in turn drives the value of older cents.
At 7.6 million, the 1921 is a common date. Worn coins carry little more than a small premium and the real interest lies in coins with sharp leaf veins and crown detail. Uncirculated red coins are much harder to find. The 1921 is a good coin to own in a better grade, since a nice one is far more affordable than the key dates that follow it. If you are building a date set, patience pays off here: wait for an example with even color and no spots instead of settling for the first one you see.
George V small cents, 1920 to 1936
In 1920 Canada replaced its big copper cent with a much smaller coin: 19.05 mm and 3.24 g, close in size to the cent used across the border. Some large cents dated 1920 were still struck before the change, so both sizes share the date. The small cent kept Mackennal's crowned George V and the corrected legend, but it got a new reverse with two maple leaves on a single stem, ONE CENT between them, CANADA above and the date below. The alloy stayed at 95.5% copper, 3% tin and 1.5% zinc.
The new coin was produced in huge numbers at first: more than fifteen million small cents in 1920 and over seven million in 1921. That left plenty in stock and output collapsed for the next five years. The mintages for 1922 to 1926 run from about one million to two million, with 1923 and 1925 the lowest. Those years are the keys of the whole small cent series. Output recovered in the late 1920s, dipped again to about 2.5 million in 1930 as the Depression set in, then jumped past 21 million in 1932.
George V died in January 1936. Cents dated 1936 still carry his portrait, because Edward VIII's coins were never issued in Canada. Cents dated 1936 with a small dot below the date were struck in early 1937 while dies for George VI were not ready, yet only a few are known today. For anything from 1922 to 1926, check the date with a magnifier, since key dates attract altered coins. Wear shows first on the crown and the leaf veins.
Mintage chart
Specifications
| Country | Canada |
|---|---|
| Denomination | 1 cent |
| Issuer | Royal Canadian Mint |
| Year | 1921 |
| Circulation mintage | 7,601,627 |
| Composition | Bronze (95.5% copper, 3% tin, 1.5% zinc) |
| Weight | 3.24 g |
| Diameter | 19.05 mm |
| Shape | Round |
| Edge | Plain |
Frequently asked questions
Is the 1921 Canadian cent rare?
No. More than 7.6 million were struck, making it a common date. The famous Canadian rarity from that year is the 1921 fifty cent piece, which has nothing to do with the cent apart from sharing the date.
Why did Canadian cent production drop after 1921?
The mint had struck more than 23 million small cents in 1920 and 1921, which left the banks with plenty of stock during a postwar slowdown. Production fell sharply and stayed low from 1922 to 1926.
Mintage figures: Penny (Canadian coin) (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0), compiled from Royal Canadian Mint figures. How we build these pages.